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The pressures of daily life can take a toll on a person's physical and emotional well-being. Many people lack a healthy outlet for the things that make them tense or anxious and that can lead to a host of health problems.

Fortunately, there are many places where Canadians can go to find some respite and restore a healthy balance to their lives. Here are just a few unique retreats that offer physical and spiritual healing for stressed-out bodies and souls.

What better place for a serious spiritual seeker to work on inner development than a Buddhist sanctuary. The Hermitage offers a program of summer meditation retreats for small groups of up to 12 participants from all faiths and spiritual traditions.

Retreats include very basic lodging and light vegetarian meals at no charge-- the vitality of the sanctuary depends on visitor and member donations. "We rely on the good faith of our participants ... giving what they can truly afford, to keep the centre alive for the future benefit of all," says spokesperson Lisa Devenish.

An experienced meditation guide provides daily individual instruction, helping guests develop their personal retreat goals. Participants are encouraged to meditate privately on a quiet patch of field or in the forest on the Hermitage's 60-acre Denman Island property. It lies just off Vancouver Island, 90 minutes by car and ferry north of Nanaimo. Electronic devices -- such as laptop computers, music players and cellphones -- and coffee are strongly discouraged. Drugs and alcohol are forbidden.

This sprawling 20-hectare site outside Orangeville offers a full schedule of programs in Taoist Tai Chi internal arts of health, a discipline that stems from an ancient Chinese tradition. The centre's Health Recovery Program, the first of its kind, offers participants dealing with everything from simple ageing to stress and chronic illness a chance to improve their balance, strength, flexibility and endurance.

The medical director of the program is Dr. Bruce McFarlane, a family physician. A senior instructor designs a program based on participants' specific requirements. As the week progresses, each person develops a training plan that can be continued at home. The week-long program begins on Friday evenings and ends the following Thursday.

One hour north of Montreal, this Laurentian Mountains retreat provides students of all levels with instruction in the ancient Indian traditions of Hatha yoga, famed for its contorted and colourfully-named body postures, and Raja yoga, a discipline that aims to bring thoughts and emotions into balance through meditation.

Sivananda Ashram -- the first yoga camp opened by the late Swami Vishnudevananda -- was founded in 1963, and has since become an internationally recognized training facility. The camp holds year-round yoga vacations and weekend getaways open to participants of all skill levels, which follow a daily schedule of two yoga classes, two sat-sang (meditation) sessions and vegetarian meals. Summer activities also include swimming, hiking and canoeing; Thai Yoga and Ayurvedic massage; workshops on yoga philosophy and psychology; and kids' yoga classes and satsangs.

Housed in the Pacific Shores Nature Resort on Vancouver Island, just half an hour's drive north of Nanaimo, this spa offers a range of naturopathic treatments, from hydrotherapy to allergy treatment, and preventive services, such as nutritional counselling, oxygen therapies and colonics.

EcoMed was founded by naturopathic physician Dr. Stefan Kuprowsky to immerse patients in the full healing power of nature. "The spa is for anyone looking for a total cleansing experience, or who is suffering from a medical condition and wants to try a natural, but scientific approach to resolve it," Dr. Kuprowsky says.

A week-long stay at the spa includes a complete naturopathic medical workup, meals, accommodation and a daily treatment regimen. Guests are treated to vegetarian cuisine and hotel-style accommodations, with ocean views, whirlpool tubs, and other amenities. Smoking, drugs and alcohol are prohibited.

"Stress is one of the leading causes of illness in our society and leads to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and many nervous disorders," says Lisa Gossen, founder of Inner Balance day spa.

Ms. Gossen, who has 20 years of alternative medicine experience, opened the spa to help people of all ages incorporate treatments for relaxation and preventive health into their regular health care routine. The spa is known for its various massage treatments, from therapeutic to energy massages. Other treatments include acupuncture, body wraps, Danne skin therapies, infrared detoxifying saunas and cranio-sacral therapy.

East meets west at this intimate, 20-person-capacity health spa set amid the woods just north of Lake Ontario, 90 minutes east of Toronto. Traditional spa treatments are combined with the ancient Indian "life science" of Ayurveda, a lifestyle based on harmony between the external environment and the individual.

Elemental Embrace was founded by British expatriate Begum Teja, originally a refugee from Uganda, and her sons Jazir and Muqit. "My childhood ambition was to be a doctor -- to make people well and make a difference in the world," Ms. Teja says. "This resort fulfils that dream, one guest at a time."

The spa's main attraction is its seven-day Pancha Karma packages, which employ different combinations of five Ayurvedic therapies.

Other treatments range from four-handed Abhyanga massages, Shirodhara (oil flow on the forehead), energy treatments and body wraps, and facials.

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